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I always buy extra fuel when I go to the station. The places I go are not dodgy or low traffic. I've been using the same containers for probably ~5-6 years now. This is what they look like on the inside.
That gunk is all pretty caked on, its not going anywhere.
Interesting. I have six VP 5 gallon fuel jugs and none of them look like that. Some of them sit around for months unused. I'm assuming I used a lot of the same stations you do.
When I was still in the Bay, I used the Oakland, Berkeley and and Woodland stations the most.
I have only seen corrosion when something is sitting in ethanol for a long time and exposed to the environment so water can get in.
This was my pump that sat in my Radium surge tank for 7+ months while the fuel line in the engine bay was open to the environment:
Wow, that is nasty. One thing I recommend to anyone doing their own pump setup for E85 is to make sure that the pump is not making direct contact with any other dissimilar metals in the tank, including hose clamps such as here. This is because the zinc coating is anodic compared to most other materials, so the pump body will corrode faster if its in contact with something like a stainless steel hose clamp. Judging by the generally pristine appearance of the hose clamps in Bryan's photo, I'd say those were stainless steel hose clamps. I don't think the clamps were the primary driver for the massive corrosion in this case, but they will still accelerate corrosion. Its better to use a standard zinc coated carbon steel hose clamp, and make sure that the hangar is also not stainless steel. Or another solution is to use large diameter shrinkwrap on the pump body. Places like Mouser, Digikey, Newark, and maybe even McMaster-Carr sell large diameter PTFE shrinkwrap that is a perfect fit for the small diameter region of these in-tank pumps. I think its $10 for maybe a 6" long piece.
Mychailo, Have you ever had any gunk build up from Jays fuel? I've been on E85 for about 15 years (10 in the Evo, 5 in the talon before that) and never had gunk buildup using Jays and before that Olsen Bros back when they had it.
Interesting. I have six VP 5 gallon fuel jugs and none of them look like that. Some of them sit around for months unused. I'm assuming I used a lot of the same stations you do.
When I was still in the Bay, I used the Oakland, Berkeley and and Woodland stations the most.
I've only ever filled these from 4 different stations.
2 propel fuel stations in San Jose, the Silvas Oil Company station in Oxnard, and the Conserv Fuel station in Brentwood. About 99% from the San Jose stations and the others maybe a couple times a year. The Silvas station seems like a good candidate for fuel sitting in old tanks though and its the most run down of the lot. I only hit that station doing road trips.
Mychailo, Have you ever had any gunk build up from Jays fuel? I've been on E85 for about 15 years (10 in the Evo, 5 in the talon before that) and never had gunk buildup using Jays and before that Olsen Bros back when they had it.
Yes, I've had gunk issues since moving to Portland. None before that. I was convinced it was something in Jay's E85, but now that I have zero gunk after 2000 miles using non-leaking valve guide seals, I think it was oil from my motor and not something in Jay's E85.
I've not seen any corrosion on my fuel pump body. Are you by-chance using a custom metal hangar that is making metal-to-metal contact with the fuel pump?
All OEM. It's white, like razorlab's, but nowhere near as bad. Just some occasional, light spotting. Possibly from letting air in while adjusting the pressure relief. I haven't opened it up since to look... but figure that would just add more air/moisture LOL. I posted pictures in another thread. Maybe even this one. Not sure
All OEM. It's white, like razorlab's, but nowhere near as bad. Just some occasional, light spotting. Possibly from letting air in while adjusting the pressure relief. I haven't opened it up since to look... but figure that would just add more air/moisture LOL. I posted pictures in another thread. Maybe even this one. Not sure
ok. It must be due to high moisture content. Are you still using the factory evaporative emissions equipment, or are you venting the tank to air now?
The valve seal argument is intriguing, I have ran into the gunk on a few cars in the area. None on mine, and we use the same stations for the most part.
ok. It must be due to high moisture content. Are you still using the factory evaporative emissions equipment, or are you venting the tank to air now?
All OEM evap,etc.
Originally Posted by Project_Broke
The valve seal argument is intriguing, I have ran into the gunk on a few cars in the area. None on mine, and we use the same stations for the most part.
That may be the solution.
My car doesn't smoke at all, which means my valve seals are good. No gunk. Not really definitive... but kinda goes along with the theory.
10 years ago I installed a Walbro 255 and switched to E85 full time. I am currently in the process of upgrading to a 450 and yesterday I cut open my old fuel strainer. Reminds me of smokers lung.
makes me think i need to remove the built in filter too and replace it with an inline serviceable filter. Anyway Id'e say based on the junk in my 5 gallons jugs and this, the gunk is probably coming in with the fuel.
the strainer has been in there for 10 years, so for all i know its been this way for a long time. It's pretty interesting how the buildup is on the inside of the strainer, the outside was pretty clean but "sticky".
